


It Took a Minute (but i always knew)

by happy_go_fluffy



Category: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anne and Gilbert are basically married, Chicken wing truth or dare, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Hoodie Theft, I think i've lost my mind, Modern AU, hope you enjoy the cheese, then they're not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:47:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23985541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happy_go_fluffy/pseuds/happy_go_fluffy
Summary: Anne and Gilbert were the type of friends who acted like an old married couple in high school but grew apart in college. In the spirit of celebrating their upcoming college graduation, Gilbert thought they should hang out one last time like they used to. It’s just a night to catch up, watch movies and eat some food, right? What could possibly happen?
Relationships: Gilbert Blythe & Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Comments: 88
Kudos: 284





	1. The Lucky Hoodie

**Author's Note:**

> I watched a couple episodes of Hot Ones on youtube and before I knew it I had nearly 20k of Shirbert fluff on my hands. Hope you enjoy my first long-ish fic! 
> 
> The title is from Finally Got It Right by Parachute. It's super catchy. Watch out :)

Anne woke up with the sun streaming in her window just like any other morning. Except this sunny April morning was not just any normal morning. This was the morning after she finally finished writing her senior thesis for her English education degree. As she blinked awake and got her bearings she could hardly believe that she had actually finished it. There were finally thirty perfect pages to show an entire semester’s worth of effort.

She had worked for the last ten weeks spending countless evenings scouring the university archives and stacks for references and interviewing people in the afternoons for quotes. It was a labor of love, and after one last late night, it was finally finished. All she had left to do was turn it into her professor by 10 a.m. when senior seminar started.

She wouldn’t have to spend another minute thinking about this enormous project hanging over her head. It didn’t feel real. Finishing it meant that uni was nearly over. This was the final piece to her degree plan. She would be student teaching in the fall so campus life was coming to a close. She couldn’t decide if she was excited, nervous, sad or a little bit of all three.

Even though she wasn’t graduating this spring like Gilbert and some of the others, it felt like the end of an era. Diana had to do an extra semester to tie up loose ends also, but without her other friends here with her it wouldn’t be the same. She had said no to so many events in order to get this final project perfect. Now with the realization of what it had cost her, she was determined to make every last bit of these last few weeks count.

With this on her mind, Anne rolled out of bed, stretched and decided to start her day. She grabbed her bluetooth speaker off her desk and padded into the bathroom.

“Ughhhh. Dianaaaa..”

Her roommate had an early start and apparently didn’t have time to clean up before she left. Anne pulled open Diana’s drawer and swept her arm across the counter, knocking all the various beauty products off the edge and back into their drawer in order to find a space for her speaker.

Sharing a bathroom with Diana was an adventure to say the least. The counter was always covered with all kinds of makeup and hair products that Diana claimed were key to keeping her appearance acceptable. All those years under the scrutinizing eyes of Mrs. Barry had left an impression. Anne, on the other hand, was more of a wash and go type girl. She could get dolled up when she wanted, but as far as daily habits went, she was more concerned with simplicity than looking like an instagram influencer.

Considering the fact that she’d slept for a grand total of 3 hours the previous night, she had about enough energy to hop in the shower and wash her hair, but that was all she could muster. Anne turned on her favorite Spotify playlist of energetic pop hits, brushed her teeth and got into the shower. Afterwards she combed her hair and left it down to air dry. She figured she’d throw it into braids at some point once it wasn’t a wet mop anymore. As for choosing an outfit, effort was not required. This level of sleep deprivation required comfy clothes. She was turning in her thesis, so her lucky test hoodie was the obvious choice— it was her favorite after all— along with some leggings.

The hoodie was nearly ten years old now, and was faded, but well loved. It started as Gilbert’s, but by now the navy sweatshirt had become 100% hers. Its evolution was slow but steady: over the years she’d taken the liberty to carefully sew in thumb holes to accommodate for the extra long sleeves, had replaced the skate lace ties with sparkly ribbons in white and gold and had sewn in little sunflowers along the edge of the hood. But however much Anne had personalized it, it still said Avonlea Hockey with BLYTHE and the number 9 on the back.

The legend of the lucky test hoodie dated back to freshman year of high school. It had been a typically chilly February day at Avonlea High. The school was frigid, and as usual, Anne hadn’t paid enough attention to what she was doing when she got dressed for the day, lacking the appropriate number of layers to allow her to focus on learning inside the ice box they called a classroom.

Gilbert, her friend being ever the gentleman, offered Anne his hockey hoodie so she wouldn’t be cold. It just so turned out that it was that very day in geometry that Anne beat Gilbert in their ongoing test rivalry, having scored a 99 to his 98. She told him that it must have been the hoodie and he cheekily said she should keep it. She’d need it for next time cause he was going to study even harder to make sure this wouldn’t happen again.

Ever since, whenever there was a test, she would wear Gilbert’s hoodie, using it as her good luck charm, but also as a reminder of the friendly rivalry they had for the highest GPA at Avonlea High. By the time they graduated he had long accepted the fact that while it literally had his name on it, the hoodie wasn’t really his anymore.

Anne always enjoyed the route she took to class, but today was an especially beautiful walk. The sun was shining out from behind the trees, the birds were chirping and the air was fresh with the scent of dew still on the grass from the night before. It was a morning that was still crisp and a little chilly, but held promise to grow much warmer as the day progressed.

As she walked on the sidewalk through campus she enjoyed watching the squirrels scurry from tree to tree and listened to the various snippets of conversations from passersby. Being away from the open fields of Avonlea had been an adjustment when she first arrived on campus, but she was so thankful that she was able to enjoy the green lawns and the nearby park within the city of Toronto.

A ping from her phone snapped Anne from her thoughts. She pulled her phone out of her hoodie pocket and smiled, obviously pleased with the message greeting her on her screen.

**Gil:** Hey! Happy Thesis Turn-in Day! I know you finished it, but here’s the real question: how many hours of sleep did you get last night?

Anne let out a small laugh before typing her response.

**Anne:** I got 3 hours thank you very much. And it’s perfect. I’m walking to class right now to turn it in and then I’m free forever!

**Gil:** Just as I suspected lol. You never sleep much the night before things are due. Which brings me to my next point… I want to celebrate tonight, just you and me. I was thinking I could make some food and we could watch a couple of your favorite movies.

The typing dots appeared on Anne’s screen for a little longer than expected, causing her to wonder what else he had to say.

**Gil:** And I was wondering if you wanted to stay over? Moody said he’s staying at Ruby’s and I miss when we used to have those all night hangouts. It’s been far too long since we spent more than a couple hours together. We can even build one of those blanket nests you like so much.

_Oh._ Anne was surprised by his boldness, but how could she turn him down when he’d put it like that?

**Anne:** Okay, you’ve convinced me. How could I deny that combination? I’m in. 8 ok?

**Gil:** Yeah. Sounds great. Dress comfy and don’t eat anything before you come. I’ll get the usual. See you later, Anniecat :)

**Anne:** It’s a date!

After hitting send Anne suddenly realized what she had done. A deep groan escaped from the back of her throat and she scrubbed her hands over her face, looking to the sky as if it had the answer to why she’d said that.

_It’s a date?! What the hell, Anne. He calls you Anniecat ONE TIME like he used to and you make it weird by saying IT’S A DATE when he just asked to hang out?! You’re an idiot._

After going back and forth about what to do, she realized she had already reached her classroom and decided that not addressing it would be easier than trying to come up with some lame excuse or joke as to why she said it. Hopefully Gil wouldn’t be too weirded out. She really wanted tonight to go well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gorgeous artwork by my dear friend Jenni aka @lovelyrugbee!


	2. A Trip Down Memory Lane

Anne handed in the hard copy of her final paper and sat down to listen to the short talk her professor had to share with them. Today was just the turn-in day. They would meet next week for their presentations to the group, but there wasn’t anything else required for today as it was tradition to end class very early on the day the seniors finished their papers. 

Having been released, Anne left the classroom and walked back downstairs. She found that her short conversation with Gilbert had left her head spinning. After exiting the building she sat down on a bench off one of the main pathways through campus. She checked her phone for the time. It read 10:20 telling her she had 40 minutes before her coffee date with Diana. People watching for a while would be a great distraction as she sorted out her thoughts. 

This last semester had been so bizarre. She didn’t know what to do with Gilbert anymore. It used to always be so easy; they were AnneandGilbert, always spoken of in tandem, never without the other in word or deed. For 6 years they were nearly inseparable, but things had changed after they got to Toronto. He met Winnie during fall semester, and slowly everything started to shift.

First it was just not being able to hang out with her in their dorms during all their free time, then the library study sessions disappeared, then pretty soon no one heard from him except Moody because he lived down the hall. Winnie had taken all his time and attention. 

It wasn’t as if they weren’t still friends, though. They would swap texts and snaps periodically and would always post a cheesy birthday message for the other on the appropriate day. When Anne ran into him on campus they would stop and catch up but it was never quite the same. 

The bulk of his time went to Winnie and his new friends, leaving Anne and the Avonlea crew what was left. Considering Gilbert was studying pre-med, this was not much. He still showed up for the really important events, but as far as mundane weeknight netflix binges and weekend trips to the bars were concerned it was more of an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ situation. He’d never had a falling out with anyone, it’s just they’d all gotten closer while he didn’t.

That had been Anne’s reality for the last 3 years; instead of the experience she’d dreamed of and had meticulously planned with Gilbert as soon as they both decided to apply to U of T, she’d had something completely unrecognizable. It’s not that her university experience was bad, but it was lacking a big dose of Gilbert Blythe. 

Then, over Christmas break everything changed. While Rachel was over helping Marilla bake Christmas cookies Anne had overheard her tell Marilla that he’d broken up with Winnifred. Apparently Gilbert had run into Mr. Barry in town and he asked Gilbert how Winnie was. Instead of the pleasant response he expected, Gilbert explained that he and Winnie were no longer together. Obviously that news didn’t stay quiet for long considering who else was in the store... 

During their time at home Gilbert started showing up to group hang outs around Avonlea, just like the last 3 years hadn’t happened. Everyone was excited he had time to spend with them, so they welcomed him back like he’d never left. His spot in their corner booth at Gloria’s was filled once again after so many years of spotty attendance, and he was around for movie nights and coffee runs just like old times. 

Nobody said anything, but the Avonlea group chat had even conspicuously shifted back to the one from high school with Gil’s number included in it. They’d been using a different one to avoid spamming him with messages he clearly didn’t have time for or to invite him to events he wouldn’t attend because he was busy. 

When they got back to campus everyone made an effort to include Gilbert in their activities. Considering most of them were last semester seniors they carefully toed the line of giving their studies the attention they required and but also making lots of memories while they still could. But even with the progress they’d made, Anne wasn’t sure if things would return to how they’d been before with her and Gilbert. 

The question about what the future would hold for them consumed Anne’s attention, the world fading out as she looked across the lawn, looking, but not really seeing anything. Her mind was running through all the potential ways they could be involved in each other’s lives, but she couldn’t deny that one particular scenario kept coming back. Her mind demanded so much of her attention she hadn’t registered the young man approaching her bench.

“Ah, excuse me, hi.” 

Anne’s head snapped up to see who had interrupted her internal monologue so abruptly. Recognizing him as a classmate from her senior seminar she smiled. 

“Oh, hi. Sorry about that. I was pretty zoned out,” Anne admitted, a soft blush rising on her cheeks at having been busted not paying attention. 

The guy smiled at Anne, his green eyes sparkling with amusement after realizing he’d caught her off guard. “That’s okay. It’s Annie, right?”

“Just Anne. I don’t do nicknames.” She paired her correction with a kind look so as to not completely scare him off. She’d let his mistake slide because he was cute. “I’m sorry, and you are…?”

Her handsome, yet thus far nameless classmate ran his hand through his hair, a bit of nervous energy apparent in the action. 

“Roy. Roy Gardner. Sorry. I’m usually not this bad at this. I just saw you sitting here and thought I should finally talk to you after thinking about doing so all semester. I tried to find you on instagram before but Anne Blythe didn’t come up with any hits.”

At that, Anne froze, her eyes wide, her mouth hanging slightly ajar, before shutting off all expression from her face, going for that effortless stoicism Matthew had taught her. 

“I, uhhh, I’m sorry. Did I say something wrong?” Roy began to stutter, completely thrown off by her instant negative reaction to his words. “I realize that probably came off kind of stalker-ish, but I promise I was just trying to find you on there to ask you out to coffee, not for anything nefarious.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just, my last name isn’t Blythe. It’s Shirley - Cuthbert,” Anne replied, her voice sounding far away. 

“Oh. I just.... Well it’s on your sweatshirt that you wear all the time, so I just assumed.” He reached up and his hand once again returned to his hair. Clearing his throat, he tried to continue, putting on his most charming smile. “So, do you think we can still get that coffee, or have I completely ruined any chance I might’ve had?”

“Right. Coffee. Sorry, Roy. I have a boyfriend. This is his hoodie, so no, I can’t go out with you,” Anne lied. Checking her phone she saw it read 10:57. “Crap. I’m really sorry but I have to go. I’m late to meet a friend. Bye Roy.”

Anne didn’t wait for his reply before grabbing her bag and rushing down the sidewalk in the direction of the café.


	3. That's What Friends Are For

By the time she arrived she was only 3 minutes late. She scanned the room and spotted Diana at a table with 2 cups of coffee in front of her. Hustling over, she flopped into the opposite chair. 

“Sorry I’m late. Di. You will never guess what just happened. I want to die.” Anne put her forearms up on the table and dropped her face onto them, groaning dramatically. 

“There, there, little friend. Now what happened?” Diana asked, patting Anne’s head. 

Anne reached over, took the cup of coffee that Diana wasn’t drinking and took a big gulp, buying herself some time. “I hate my life.”

“Okay… I’m going to need you to use more words.”

“Alright. You know how I’ve been telling you about that guy in my senior sem who looks like fricking Timotheé Chalamet with the gorgeous hair and gemstone eyes and jaw that can cut glass? He talked to me today after class. He looked so good, Diana. It was amazing, well until he opened his mouth... He called me Annie,” Anne spat out, disgust evident in her voice. 

“Oh yikes. I have to admit that I thought you’d eventually ease up on the no nicknames thing, but you are you, after all. Do we have a body to dispose of? I can help, I just need to change out of these shoes first. They’re suede and will not go well with forest mud.”

“No, I didn’t kill him,” Anne snapped back, rolling her eyes. “He screwed up, but he’s still hot. And I wanted to know what he wanted. So I graciously decided to let him live. His name is Roy apparently”

“So what happened that made you come in here looking as embarrassed as the morning you came back to school after trying to take off Gilbert’s head with your whiteboard in 7th grade?”

“Funny you should mention Gilbert. Roy was telling me how he’d wanted to talk to me for a while, and then he said he tried to find me on instagram but couldn't find anything under my name. And what does he think my name is, you ask? Anne. Blythe. Because of _this_!” Anne exclaimed, yanking the ribbons on Gilbert’s old hoodie with both hands for effect. 

A loud laugh escaped from Diana before she slapped a hand over her mouth. “Holy shit,” Diana chuckled, enjoying Anne’s misfortune a little more than she probably should. “What did you say?”

“I told him my actual name and then I decided that it didn’t matter if he was cute, I didn’t want to go out with him anyways. So I made an excuse, told him I wasn’t interested and ran off because I was late to meet you.”

“Anne, you’ve been telling me about this guy all semester. What made you turn him down?”

“One guess….”

“Gil.”

Anne ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it once her hands were fully buried. “Yesssss,” she agonized, flopping back into her chair and sliding down in it until she was nearly falling out of it under the table. 

“Di, he texted me this morning on my way to class inviting me to hang out tonight. He wants me to stay over because Moody is going to Ruby’s and he said he missed our all night hangouts.”

“Oh wow. What did you say? Do you think that’s a good idea, all things considered?”

“I said yes. How could I not? I miss him. He’s my Gil. I have no idea what I’m signing up for, but I just hope I can hold it together and not make it weird. I’ve been trying to keep things chill between us when we hang out and it feels like it’s getting better. But then again, I have no filter around him and unfortunately I think I already screwed up that whole not making it weird thing….”

“What did you say?”

“More like what did _he_ say. After I said I would come he said ‘See you later, Anniecat” and I just...gahhh. You know what that name does to me. He’s the only person who’s allowed to use it and I hadn’t heard it from him in so long and it was just so dang fond. Something snapped and I forgot that I’m supposed to be trying to get over him and just be friends. I just typed without thinking and all of a sudden I was looking at my phone which said I replied with ‘It’s a date!’” 

Anne banged her head on the table and let out a big sigh. “He didn’t respond, so now I’m just sitting here wondering what he’s thinking and considering all the possible ways things could go poorly tonight. Why did I say that?” 

Diana reached up and placed her hand on top of Anne’s, giving her an unimpressed look before turning back on her empathy. 

“Because you still love him, Anne. I’ve been right here the entire time, watching your whole life unfold with Gilbert. I watched you assault him in class with that whiteboard when he called you Carrots, and how he didn’t even get mad at you for it. Instead he tried to be your friend even more than before. I watched you two become as thick as thieves over the years, friends and academic rivals all the same, at times wondering if I’d been replaced. I know how important he was to you and how much it hurt when he started dating Winnie when he got here. I hate that it took that happening for you to realize your feelings for him were more than friendly, but I’m proud of you. You’ve carried yourself with grace and didn’t fall apart. It’s okay if you’re not sure how you’re feeling or what you should do now that he’s trying to be in your life again. You’ve spent the last 3 years trying to figure out who you are without him.”

Anne released a deep breath, her eyes misty from hearing the truth so plainly stated by her best friend. 

“I’m scared, Diana. I want to go tonight, and I want it to feel like old times, but now I know that I’ll never be okay with it _only_ being that way. I want more. I want _him_. But I can’t wrap my mind around not taking the friendship he’s so clearly offering, even if it hurts. I missed him too much to not try.”

“Even if he only wants to be your friend, that’s a relationship that is worth keeping in your life. You’re a little more you when he’s around. Don’t get too worried about tonight and what it means. One of your best friends invited you to hang out. You’ve done this a million times. Just go, and don’t overthink it. You’ll probably have a great time. If it’s a little awkward at first, that just means you’re still a little rusty at the whole friends thing. It’ll get easier, I promise.”

“Thanks, Di. I appreciate that. And don’t think I didn’t notice you quoting back my words verbatim from when I tried to coach you through being friends with Jerry again. I wanna be mad, but my pride won’t allow it. It means my words were memorable,” Anne finished, grinning smugly. 

With that, Anne’s demeanor changed back to the confident, carefree girl that Diana knew so well.

“Okay, enough about me. How did rehearsal for your audition go this morning?”

***

Gilbert turned his key in the door and tried to keep all his grocery bags balanced as he passed through the doorway into his apartment.

“Hey Moody, a little help here?” Gilbert wasn’t exactly asking as much as begging Moody to get up off the couch as a bag started to slip, tilting precariously towards the floor.

Moody grabbed the offending bag from Gilbert and followed him into their kitchen. 

“What’s all this stuff for?”

Gilbert began unloading the groceries into the fridge and freezer, answering as he worked. “I invited Anne over tonight since you said you were going to Ruby’s. I’ve been wanting to spend more time with her, and I thought a little post-thesis celebration might be nice. I haven’t seen her very much this semester.” 

Gilbert’s words sounded innocent enough, but he wasn’t keeping eye contact and the tips of his ears were turning pink, causing his friend to become suspicious.

“Oh, I know that face. That’s the face that only happens when you’re leaving out _very_ important details. Spill”

“I may have insisted she stay over like old times. I also may have temporarily blacked out and said goodbye using her nickname Anniecat which has been solidly in retirement since freshman year.” Gilbert trailed off and hid his face in his hands, thoroughly embarrassed. 

“Dude. Those are important details. But before you explain anything, I need you to tell me about how the heck you convinced Anne to let you call her Anniecat. I’ve wondered for ages and never asked either of you because I didn’t want her to find out I said it out loud and kill me. She’s terrifying sometimes…”

Gilbert chuckled and leaned against the kitchen counter. 

“Remember in middle school when she first moved to Avonlea? Everybody kept trying to call her Annie and she was very adamant about it _just being Anne_. So I used to call her Annie just to rile her up cause I thought it was funny. After she smoked me with that whiteboard I realized she was a lot scrappier than she looked and it morphed into Anniecat cause she was like an alley cat.” 

Gilbert smiled and his eyes got that far away look that so often accompanied the stories he would tell about Anne. 

Moody snapped his fingers in front of his face. “Bro. Snap out of it. What else?”

“Oh. Sorry. Ummm, so at some point she just stopped getting mad about it. I don’t know why, but I’m literally the only person she lets call her anything even close to Annie. It just became our little inside joke. But I haven’t used it in ages. I guess it felt too special for how messed up our friendship was the last few years.”

“Alright, so what made you say it today?”

“I don’t know why. I think I was just excited about the prospect of hanging out again like we used to and I said it automatically. I didn’t really think about it. I just did it.”

“Well, it was certainly ballsy, but not necessarily a mistake. What did she say?”

“She literally said ‘It’s a date!’ Moody, what the hell did she mean? I’m freaking out over here. I didn’t mean for it to be a date, but I wouldn’t be mad if it was. Does she think it’s a date or did she just say it like people do sometimes. ‘It’s a date!’ like ‘See you there!’ or ‘I’ll put it on the calendar!’”

“Dude. Breathe. It’s just Anne. I know you’re still trying to figure out what normal looks like between the two of you since your epic screw up with Winnie, but she’s one of your best friends. I’ve never seen two people who make more sense together. Don’t get all worked up over whether it’s a date or not. Just hang out and see what happens. Don’t overthink it.”

Moody opened the fridge and grabbed each of them a beer. “I think we both need one of these now. Come on. Let’s watch the new episode of Hot Ones with Justin Timberlake and you can tell me all about your plans for tonight.”


	4. A New Normal

Anne walked up the stairs to Gilbert’s apartment just after 8 pm, having carefully timed her arrival as to not be overly early or weirdly on the dot, yet not so late that he’d think she had bailed. She stood in front of the door, fighting off the foreboding feeling building in her gut, foot tapping nervously. Previously she’d never given her arrival times a single thought, let alone a second one. They’d just shown up to the other’s place whenever they wanted, completely unannounced. By sophomore year the two had begged Matthew and Marilla enough to convince them that Gilbert needed his own key to Green Gables. After that, getting Bash and Mary to agree to Anne having one of theirs was no problem. 

She hated that something as simple as just showing up was so fraught with issues, but there was still a touch of uncertainty when it came to the two of them spending time together alone. He’d offered the olive branch of an overnight hang out, but it was hard to reconcile that fact with their stilted relationship for the bulk of their time in Toronto. They’d slowly begun spending time together just the two of them again, but even after a few library study sessions, trips to grab a bite to eat and a netflix night or two they’d never returned completely to how things had been before. 

While Anne was lost in thought the apartment door opened suddenly, snapping her out of her daze. 

‘Hey,” Gil greeted her, dressed in a gray U of T hoodie and navy sweats. He couldn’t help but smirk and give Anne a bit of a curious look. “I thought I heard something...I’d recognize your nervous toe tapping anywhere. What are you doing?”

“I wasn’t sure if it would be open. Then if that was the case I wasn’t sure if I should just yell and come inside or if I needed to knock….” 

Gilbert couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Don’t think too hard. Wouldn’t want you to sprain something after finishing your paper last night. Come on.” He grabbed her hand and dragged her inside the apartment. 

Anne kicked off her shoes and looked around the room. While she hadn’t technically been here before, the place still felt like home. Gilbert’s favorite windbreaker was draped over one of the dining room chairs, his and Moody’s shoes were lined up along the wall of the entryway and most importantly, his giant bookshelf was over in the corner of the living room. That thing was a time capsule of memories all on its own.

He’d built it with his dad in middle school before John had gotten too sick to get out of bed. After he died, Anne and Gil would spend hours and hours scouring book stores looking for the perfect additions to fill it up. Each book on that shelf had a specific memory tied to it. It was always something they did together. Even now there were only a few new additions; most of them were still the thrifted copies of old faded classics they’d hunted down years ago. 

Gilbert clapped and rubbed his hands together excitedly. “Okay. First, let’s get drinks, then you’re going to tell me all about the masterpiece you turned in this morning. What do you want?”

“Don’t make fun of me...any chance you have some of those ciders I like..?” Anne couldn’t help but blush a little bit. She was a grown woman who still preferred drinks that could easily be mistaken for the juice Marilla served her and Diana as kids. 

“I said I’d get the usual stuff. You’ve been drinking those since we used to sneak out to the orchard for parties when we were feeling particularly rebellious. So yes, I have those,” Gil teased. 

Anne relaxed significantly realizing that Gilbert was making an effort to bring up their shared history. It was nice to know she didn’t have to wonder if she was supposed to act like the past didn’t exist. If he was so casual about things, maybe tonight wouldn’t be so bad after all. 

Gilbert pointed Anne towards the couch then went to the fridge, getting a cider for Anne and a beer for himself. While he was in the kitchen, he couldn’t help but feel a little warm and fuzzy over the fact that Anne was still wearing his old hockey hoodie around after all this time. The idea of Anne running around with his name on her back did strange things to his heart though. 

_Pull yourself together, Blythe. It might not mean anything. Don’t go dreaming about changing her last name._

Handing Anne her drink he settled into his corner of the couch. He turned so he was facing her, propped his arm up on the back and gave her his full attention. “So your thesis.”

Anne took a sip of her drink, then pulled her inside leg up onto the couch to fully face Gilbert. “Okay. Where to even begin? Well, what do you remember about my first couple years when I got to Avonlea? Like with school.”

“School was kind of hit or miss for you right?” Gilbert scratched the back of his neck, flashbacks to their more volatile interactions early on flooding his memory. “I remember you mentioning that getting moved around in the foster system made school hard because you were never in a class for a whole year. You always missed important stuff everybody else was learning and you were constantly having to make new friends.”

“Exactly. And you know what I always had with me to make it a little better? A book. I would hide from my own life by entering the worlds of my stories. Turns out all that reading made me really good at English by default, so that class was a lot easier than the others. I was lucky. I liked to read and therefore once I had some stability after Matthew and Marilla adopted me the rest of my subjects caught up pretty quickly. I ended up writing my thesis about the importance of literacy skills for high risk students, like foster kids.” Anne’s eyes lit up with excitement, her passion for the subject leaking into her voice and causing her to begin to speak with bigger hand gestures than normal. 

“I argued that their ability to read well affects their entire academic futures and can give them important coping skills as well. I took my own experience and then added in a bunch of research and interviews to try to provide a voice for these kids who can’t do so for themselves.”

Gilbert looked at Anne in amazement. Even after all those years of trauma, she still was so kind and had such a big heart. Anne was going to change the world someday. This was only the beginning for her. 

“Anne, that sounds incredible. Leave it to you to find a way to turn the biggest, grossest project in college into something that makes you light up like it’s Christmas morning,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “So what kind of sources did you end up using for your research?”

“A lot of it was basic literacy stuff, showing the connections between early reading mastery and subsequent success in school as reading becomes foundational to all subject matters for reading textbooks and such. But I’ve also been interviewing people.” Anne looked a little more shy at this last statement, causing Gilbert to quirk an eyebrow at her change in demeanor. 

“What kind of interviews?”

“Well, it started with just asking if I could talk to some of the teachers I was working with in my school observation placements, but it kind of snowballed. I contacted my old social worker from Nova Scotia for her opinion on foster kids’ educational experiences. She ended up letting me talk to some of the kids from her caseload for first person accounts and everything. They were so excited when they found out that I used to be just like them. Their stories were amazing.”

Gilbert smiled at her fondly. “Sounds like it. You’re living your own Hilary Swank Freedom Writers fantasy over here. I remember how excited you got when we watched that in Ms. Stacy’s class. Teaching people the power of the written word has always been something that you’re passionate about. You’re going to be an amazing teacher, Anne. I can’t wait to hear all about the crazy things that happen in the classroom once your cooperating teacher gives you the reins next fall. I have a hunch your teaching style will be most unusual, yet incredibly effective,” he teased, winking at her. 

Anne blushed and looked down at her bottle, picking at the label to feed her desire to fidget. 

“I suppose I could do that. But only if you do the same for me, Doc.” Anne quipped, looking at him mischievously from over the bottle as she took a swig. “I expect you to tell me whenever something ridiculous happens during your hospital rotations for med school. I’ve seen those ER reality shows. I know I won’t be the only one with good stories.”

Gilbert reached across the couch and held out his hand to Anne, inviting her to shake it. Putting on a very serious face, his voice dropped, oozing with fake professionalism, “I promise if you do. Deal?”

Anne laughed at his act and shook his hand. If they shook a little longer than necessary to seal the deal or held each other's gaze longer than is friendly, neither one said anything. 

Breaking out of her momentary trance due to Gilbert’s piercing stare, Anne shook her head slightly and cleared her throat. “So how are things wrapping up for you? Graduation is in two weeks, right?”

“Yep. Kind of terrifying, but I’m excited to be done. And to not see the library for a very long time. It feels like all I do is study for my tests when I’m not at Dr. Ward’s for my internship requirement. 400 level science classes are no joke.”

“Well in that case, I’m flattered you made time to hang out with me. I wouldn’t want you to waste any precious time that you could be spending studying.” 

Gilbert looked at her meaningfully before reaching over and placing a hand on her knee. “I always have time for you, Anniecat.”

The intent behind his words was well meaning, but both Gilbert and Anne got quiet. The juxtaposition between his use of her old nickname and the fact that his words were an obvious lie considering their recent past caused a thick tension to descend between the two. 

Trying to recover the playful vibe they’d been enjoying before he made everything weird, Gilbert hopped up off the couch. “Okay. Are you hungry?”


	5. Truth or Wing

“Okay. Are you hungry?”

“Completely ravenous.”

“Good. I made chicken wings. I thought we could turn it into an activity.”

“An activity?”

“Yeah. Just hear me out. Moody and I were watching Hot Ones earlier and I was thinking about how we haven’t had anything to compete over in a while. Bash bought me this 10 pack of stupidly spicy hot sauces. I was thinking we could turn it into a game and see who is the ultimate champion once and for all.” Gilbert flashed her a grin, knowing his offer would be far too tempting to reject. “You in?”

Anne stepped up to Gilbert, facing off like a UFC fighter before a match. Despite their significant height difference she still managed to slightly intimidate him. “You’re going down, Blythe. Where’s the chicken?”

Gilbert spent the next few minutes gathering the food, a couple cutting boards, the basket of hot sauces and a couple more drinks for each of them. He made a show of setting up the table, making matching place settings on either side of the table with 10 wings lined up on each board. Handing her another cider he clinked his bottle with hers. “We should probably down one of these quick to take the edge off. Bash said the sauces were hot, and we both know what his spice tolerance is like,” he warned. 

“Greeeat. Okay, here goes,” she countered as she tilted the bottle up and finished her drink in one go. When she finished, Gilbert was looking at her with wide eyes. 

“What?”

“Umm. Since when can you just pound a drink like that?”

“You’ve missed a lot. There’s all kinds of things I’ve learned. Hopefully you’re ready to get your ass kicked in this wing contest. Drink up, Gil. We need to be equally drunk for this.”

The pair sat down in their respective seats and Gilbert began to explain the rules of the game he’d created, taking large swigs of his beer in between sentences. 

“Okay. So I’m just going to address the elephant in the room. We have a lot of catching up to do. I thought we could make it a little less painful if we combined it with something I know we both really enjoy— competing against each other. So here’s the game,” Gilbert placed both arms on the table and leaned in. 

“It’s kind of like truth or dare, except with the wings. I ask you a question. You can answer it truthfully or eat one of the wings with Bash’s death sauce on it. If I want to ask a follow-up question I can, but I have to eat a wing to earn it, same rules as before apply for if you answer that one. We go back and forth until all the wings are gone or someone quits. Sound good?”

Anne laughed, shaking her head at Gilbert with disbelief. “Only, you Gil. I can’t decide if I should be terrified or impressed with the way you use that mind of yours sometimes. I don’t know if this is a good idea, but I’m starting to feel those drinks and feeling just tipsy enough to think I can do pretty much anything. Game on. But we’re going to need music. Where’s your speaker?”

Gil grabbed his speaker from his room while Anne queued up her favorite party playlist. 

“Okay. Now we can begin. Who starts?”

Gilbert waved his hand in her direction. “Ladies’ choice.”

“Alright then. Hmmm. What kind of question do I ask Gilbert when he has to answer truthfully otherwise face the pain of hot wings?” Suddenly her face became nothing short of conspiratorial. “True or false. You had a giant crush on Ms. Stacy through sophomore year even though you vehemently denied it.” Anne cracked up at the panicked look on Gilbert’s face.

“Damn, Anne,” he shook his head, shocked at her question. “Going for the jugular immediately. I shouldn’t be surprised, yet here we are. Hello, hot wing. Taste buds, it was nice knowing you.” 

Gilbert crossed himself as if he was going into battle, then dipped the wing into the sauce with surprising gusto before eating it. After a moment his brave act began slipping. “Oh God. I think I might’ve made a terrible mistake. This is brutal. Woof. Okay. My turn. Why did you write Mr. Phillips a love note in 8th grade?”

Anne nearly spit out her drink upon hearing his question, the ridiculous circumstances surrounding that particular situation making her collapse into laughter. Taking a big breath, Anne tried to compose herself long enough to answer the question. 

“Josie dared me. She was still in that phase where she hated me and was trying to make my life a living hell. She told me I had to otherwise she would go around telling everyone that I still wet the bed, even though that was _a total lie._ I didn’t really bank on the fact that she’d tell everyone what was in the note anyways. I’m certainly a little smarter about things because of having to deal with her for so many years.”

“You know, that actually explains a lot,” Gilbert said, chuckling into his bottle as he took another long drink in an attempt to put out the fire burning his mouth. 

“Alright. My turn. Has Bash ever roasted you so badly that you thought you’d genuinely die of embarrassment?”

“Oh, of course.”

“What happened?”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Gilbert pointed at her board and raised an eyebrow. 

“Dang it. I was hoping you’d forget,” Anne pouted. She grabbed a wing and picked a sauce to cover it with. She took a few rapid deep breaths, trying to psych herself up. After eating it, she looked at him expectantly. “Well?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m not answering that. Obviously. I just wanted to make sure we were competing fair and square,” he quipped, smirking at her before gobbling down another piece of chicken.

Anne groaned, “I don’t understand how Bash eats this stuff…”

“Me neither...Okay. Ummm, have you ever lied to my face about something really important?”

Anne immediately looked down at her plate, her cheeks flushing. If he only knew all the things she’d had to lie about over the last few years. Her memories filled with the sound of his voice asking her things she knew she couldn’t give an honest answer to: _”Do you want to go to this party with me?” ”Is it okay if I bail on studying in the library tonight?” ”Are we okay?”_ How could she choose just one?

“Yes,” Anne nearly whispered. 

Sensing the heaviness in Anne’s answer, Gilbert knew he needed to find out why. Side eyeing his plate, he whined, reluctant to continue eating the food. However, his need to know Anne’s reason outweighed this so he snatched up and ate another wing. “Tell me one thing you lied about.”

He’d never seen Anne move so fast in her life as she grasped the chicken wing and ate it in one fluid motion. “Oh my God. These are like eating FIRE. Why did you think this was a good idea?” 

Anne began coughing as the heat creeped into the back of her throat. She reached desperately for her drink, chugging it like it might help ease her agony. 

Gilbert shot her an annoyed look from across the table. “This isn’t exactly a cake walk for me either, you know. I was trying to come up with something fun to do. It never looks this bad on Hot Ones!” he countered, finishing off his drink and starting another. 

“Yeah, well Hot Ones doesn’t use hot sauces from Trinidad their brother bought on his last trip back home. Who knows what the hell is in this stuff!”

“Do you want to stop? We can stop if you need to,” Gilbert offered. 

“No! I am still very dedicated to kicking your ass. I just might die in the process. But if I win it will have been worth the sacrifice,” she said, sniffing and wiping her dripping nose with the sleeve of her hoodie. “Okay, my turn. Back in high school did you ever tell anyone we were dating because it was easier than explaining our relationship to people?”

Gilbert thought back to all the conversations he had with friends and acquaintances throughout their years at Avonlea High. His friends didn’t believe for a second that he and Anne were _just friends_ , no matter how many times the two insisted there was nothing going on. However, to the outside world, they looked just like any other young couple, often being mistaken for lovers rather than friends. 

He thought back to a party he’d gone to with Anne the summer before college. There’d been a persistent girl trying to get him to dance with her. He’d ended up telling her that his girlfriend was coming, his face lighting up as he looked behind her. When the girl turned around she saw Anne approaching them she deflated. _"Anne. Of course Anne is your girlfriend. I should’ve known…"_

Anne snapped her fingers in front of Gilbert’s face, snapping him out of his memory. “You know the point of this game is to actually answer the questions, right?

“Oh. Sorry. Um, yeah. I have,” answering nonchalantly, wiping his nose, the heat causing it to drip. 

“Really?” Anne asked, completely thrown off by his honesty. 

“Yeah. Was that a follow up question?” 

“No. No follow up question. You go,” she urged, reaching to get a new bottle, her previous one having run out during the last question. 

“Umm. What’s the last thing Diana texted you?”

_”If all else fails you could just get drunk and tell him you love him.”_

Anne’s eyes grew panicked as she realized her answer to that question would open Pandora's box. She quickly grabbed the wing, swiped it through some hot sauce and ate it; however in smaller bites because she was in agony. Sweat was beading at her forehead and her cheeks were completely flushed. She was thankful that Gilbert wouldn’t be able to tell if her bright coloring was from her avoiding the question or the sauce. 

Deciding that she wanted to put some pressure on, Anne made her next question quite pointed. “What are you most afraid of right now?”

Gilbert took a long swig of his beer and looked at Anne, uncertainty in his eyes. “I’m afraid of graduating and being even more isolated. I don’t like going out and med school is going to take up a ton of time. I’m worried that I’m going to end up being Dr. Blythe but not have a life outside of work,” he admitted. 

Anne reached out and grabbed his forearm, giving him a meaningful look. “Gil, you’ll only be as isolated as you let yourself be. I’m still going to be here, and I know that there are lots of people who would love to spend time with you if you let them. You’re going to have a great life.”

“Thanks, Anne,” he softly replied, smiling at her. “You always know what to say to make me feel better. Which brings me to my question: Why haven’t you been in a serious relationship yet? Some lucky guy out there is just waiting to have you come into his life. What gives?”

Anne looked down at the table, weighing her options. Honesty— or at least a version of it— or another hot wing. Considering she was beginning to feel dangerously warm and was rapidly losing all sense of taste and smell, she opted for honesty. “Nobody worth my time has expressed interest. It’s not that I’m opposed to the idea, I’m just not going to date whoever decides to walk up to me on the sidewalk to ask me out for coffee.”

“Fair enough,” he replied, deep in thought. “Okay, your turn.”

Taking a deep breath, Anne mustered up the courage to ask the question she’d been wanting to ask since Christmas. “Who ended it? You or Winnie?” The look of shock on Gilbert’s face made her look away, slightly embarrassed that she’d manipulated their game to dig into his personal life so shamelessly, yet not enough to wish she hadn’t asked. 

Gilbert fiddled with his beer bottle, contemplating how to answer her question. She wanted honesty, but how honest did he want to be about this? It had been months and he was completely over it, but something about Anne asking him made it different. More personal. 

He raised his face to meet her gaze. “It was mutual. We just decided that it was best to stop. Nobody got dumped.”

Anne let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. She wasn’t sure if any answer would’ve been particularly desirable, but hearing the truth was good. It was nice to know. “Okay, your turn, Gil.”

Feeling a bit exposed by his last answer, he felt like he needed to even the playing field. He’d wondered about this for a while. It was time to know. “Have you ever been in love?”

Anne’s head snapped up, once again feeling like Gilbert’s prey with his questions. He was too good at this. But regardless of how much she didn’t want to eat any more wings, she couldn’t answer his question. There was no coming back from that. He’d figure it out. She wasn’t ready for him to know.

Anne reached for the chicken wing and dipped it in the hot sauce, taking a deep breath to center herself before eating it quickly. Immediately she began reacting, this one pushing her over her tipping point. Never being one for doing anything halfway, her reaction was nothing less than a disaster.

Gilbert started looking increasingly concerned, not sure what to do with the spectacle happening across the table from him. Anne’s eyes were watering profusely, her nose was dripping and she was coughing when she wasn’t screaming like a maniac.

“Oh my god. Oh my god. OH MY GOD. THIS IS SO HOT.” She began fanning her face and wiping at her eyes and nose frantically.

“Anne be careful you don’t— ”

“Shit. SHIT! _GIL MY EYES._ They’re burning! Oh my god.” She looked at him with panicked eyes even redder than they were a moment ago. She was crying in earnest, her eyes desperately trying to flush out the offending spices. 

“Shit. Come here,” he said, getting up and grabbing her arm. Gilbert hauled her into the kitchen and forced her in front of the kitchen sink. “You have to flush out the sauce before you burn your corneas.” He turned on the cold water and forced her head down into the sink.

“Just keep pooling it in your hands and blink really fast. It sucks, but you’ll feel better soon, I promise,” he instructed, holding her braids back and rubbing her back as she followed his directions, desperate to make the pain go away. 

After about five minutes, Anne’s eyes started to feel better. She stood up and turned off the water. Embarrassed, she took another moment to steel herself before turning around and looking at Gilbert. 

“Thanks….” she said, absolutely mortified by the dramatic turn their evening had taken.

“You’re welcome,” he chuckled, finding her reaction adorable. “Hop up on the counter here. I want to look at your eyes in the good light.”

Anne followed his directions, having to jump due her small stature. Gilbert walked up to her, pressing up to the counter and taking up the space between her legs. He reached to put his hands on either side of her face and tilted it up to the light. He took his time looking into them, assessing for any signs that she would require actual emergency assistance. 

Well, it looks like you’re not going to be blinded by Bash’s hot sauce after all. But we can tell him it was a close call if you want,” he joked, smirking at the look that washed over her face at the idea of telling anyone about this. 

Anne dropped her head on his shoulder. “Gil, please don’t tell anyone about this. I already want to die of mortification,” she mumbled before turning to bury her face in his neck. 

Chuckling, he wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back, pleased when she curled her arms around him too. It had been so long since they’d shown any physical affection. It used to be second nature to them. They were always in each other’s personal space: a squeeze of his arm, a light hand on the small of her back, hugs and kisses on the cheek whenever they came and went, cuddles whenever they were relaxing at home. The weirdest part of this was that it felt weird. It used to just be how they worked. 

He bent his head down and pressed his nose into her hair, breathing in just once before breaking the hug. “Okay, Anniecat. Enough excitement for tonight. Game over. Truce?”

“Truce. I never want to eat a hot wing ever again….” she groaned. 

“Why don’t you go ahead and set up the blanket nest so we can watch movies. There’s a bunch of blankets in the chest by the bookshelf and you can steal some pillows from my room. I’m going to clean this up and grab some barbecue sauce for the rest of the food. We’re done with spice for tonight.”


	6. Truths Whispered in the Dark

Anne proceeded to make a comfortable pile of blankets and pillows on the floor of the living room. They’d always preferred to watch movies laying down, so blanket nests became a common occurrence for their netflix nights. 

Gilbert called from the kitchen, “Hey Anne, do you want water?”

“Yes please. I’m so thirsty.”

Gilbert returned, a platter of wings slathered in barbecue sauce in one hand and two water bottles in the other. After turning on the tv he flipped off the lights, casting the room in darkness except for the glow of the tv and the light streaming in from the street light outside his window. 

“So what are we watching?”

“I thought we could watch some of those old rom coms you like so much. I was thinking Drive Me Crazy and Made of Honor. A double feature. Don’t tell anyone, but I really like them too. It’s just if Bash or Moody found out then they’d never stop harassing me about it, and I quite like my life the way it is.”

Anne laughed, knowing how brutal their ribbings could be. “Sounds good.”

GIlbert queued up the movies and settled in next to Anne, his arm lightly pressed against hers, but still keeping enough distance to avoid making her feel uncomfortable. So far the night had been going well and he wanted to keep it that way. If she wanted to initiate anything, he would happily oblige, but he didn’t want to push his luck. 

Over the course of the next hour and a half they’d polished off all the chicken and finally shook off the last of the awkwardness that had been hanging between them all night while they sat entranced by the story unfolding on the screen. Anne loved this movie. She could quote so much of it. She always got excited during the party scene when Britney Spears started playing and would gush over how cute Adrian Grenier was back then. 

When the movie finished, she turned to Gilbert. “You ever wish we’d been neighbors like that with windows that faced each other?” she asked, voice thick with disuse. 

“We would’ve been menaces to our parents. We probably would’ve just treated our houses as two shared bedrooms, coming and going between the two as we pleased. Although the tree house looked pretty awesome.” Gilbert blushed a little at that last statement, the suggestive nature of it not lost on him considering the end of the movie. 

“I always wanted a treehouse. We would’ve had a lot of fun together.” she mused, a soft smile stretching across her face. 

“We still had a lot of fun without one,” he replied, looking at her fondly. “Alright. 5 minute break, then it’s time to watch Made of Honor. Go!”

When Anne came back from the kitchen Gilbert had the next movie ready to go and was resting against the couch with an arm up on the cushions. Without thinking too much about it, she sat down next to him and snuggled into the crook of his arm, wrapping her arm around his torso. 

“Is this okay…?” she asked shyly.

“Yeah,” Gilbert squeaked, then cleared his throat. “Yeah, you’re good. No worries,” he assured her and wrapped his arm around her before turning on the movie. 

The movie started out fine, but it didn’t take long for Anne to remember why she hadn’t watched this particular movie in a long time. It was about two best friends who did everything together and then one fell in love with someone else and everything changed. Watching Patrick Dempsey realize he was in love with Michelle Monaghan after she was already with another man hit a little too close to home. Granted, Gilbert didn’t marry Winnie, but that didn’t change all the emotions the film evoked within her. 

Over the course of the movie Anne had subconsciously begun to cuddle tighter into Gilbert’s embrace. Watching Patrick Dempsey agonize over losing his best friend made her even more grateful that she somehow found herself back in the arms of her own. She didn’t know what any of this meant, but it was a good start. He wasn’t in danger of getting married to someone else and he was here with her. They could figure out the rest later. In the meantime she’d just rest her head on his chest, enjoying the comfort and safety he provided that she’d missed so much. 

***

The movie had long since ended, the tv screen muted to the soft charcoal showing it had fallen into sleep mode, not too different from the individuals lain in front of it. The clock on the wall read 3:30. 

Gilbert took a moment to gaze at the woman who rested in his arms. Her hair was messy in that effortless, wild way that was just so Anne. It spilled over her shoulders onto his chest and arm. Her eyes were closed and her face was beautifully blank. Long gone were the wrinkled brows that showed her frustration or concentration, the lines that would form in the corners of her eyes when she laughed or the dimples that would appear when she smiled. Right now her face was completely smooth; she was a picture of peace itself. 

Her breath puffed onto his shirt evenly, and a part of him couldn’t help but think about how college was nearly over and these moments were no longer guaranteed. In a matter of weeks everything would change again. This moment, this warmth, the companionship and love he felt, this view of Anne wrapped in his arms; he wanted exactly this for the rest of his life. And he’d never know if he could have it unless he was finally completely honest with her. 

“Hey Anne?” Gil asked, barely above a whisper. He wasn’t sure if she had fallen asleep while they were watching the movie like she was known to do.

“Hmm?” Anne replied, shifting slightly against his body to look at him. She had that soft, sleepy look on her face that only came with a prolonged state of utter relaxation. 

“l lied.”

Shaking her head as if physically trying to remove the fog from her mind, she asked, “What?”

“Earlier. I lied. You asked why Winnie and I broke up. I told you what we agreed on telling people, not the actual reason.”

Anne lifted her head off his chest and sat up to fully face him instead. She couldn’t help but notice he looked slightly terrified. His eyes had always given away his true feelings, even if it had been a while since she bothered to read what they had to tell her. 

“She wanted me to propose,” Gilbert whispered, looking away from Anne, like maybe it would be easier if he didn’t have to hold her gaze while bearing his secret to her. He heard her breathing briefly halt, but soldiered on anyways. 

“She wanted me to propose and it felt like everyone expected it. We’d been together since freshman year and we’d just celebrated our third anniversary. Suddenly her parents started asking more pointed questions about my plans for med school in the fall and dropping hints about helping with my tuition, if I just did one little thing first. At first I thought they were joking, and then I realized they were totally serious. And Win was right there with them. I panicked….” Gilbert took a deep breath, running his hand through his hair like he would whenever he was nervous or unsure of himself. 

Anne reached out and put her hand on his knee and rubbed her thumb against it as a silent encouragement to continue. Despite the distance that had grown between them over the last years, at the end of the day he was still her best friend. 

“After Thanksgiving when I realized that the entire Rose family thought our engagement was imminent I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I loved Winnie, I did. But I wasn’t thinking about marriage yet. I hadn’t considered it at all previously. I started thinking about a lot of stuff. About my life and med school and my relationships and just how much everything has changed since we started college.” He looked at her, his eyes reflecting the emotion she could hear sneaking into his voice. 

“When we started school we all had such a good time. You and I would hang out all the time and it was like Avonlea had just transplanted to Toronto because everyone was here too. Then I met Win at that Halloween party freshman year and she was pretty and liked me. I hadn’t had anyone else express interest yet, so when Moody told me I should get out there and try dating I asked her out. I’d never dated anyone before, so I didn’t know what to expect. She was nice and we had a good time hanging out.”

“I thought at some point something would change and it would start feeling different.” Gilbert leaned his head back on the couch cushion and began talking to the ceiling as it was easier to be honest when he didn’t have to look Anne in the eyes. 

“I didn’t know what that feeling was, but I figured I’d know when it happened. I was busy with classes and my internships and hospital observations and when I wasn’t supposed to be anywhere specific Winnie would plan something and I would show up. It was easy, and it was nice to have someone to hang out with.” 

Gilbert paused to take a deep breath. After letting it out rather dramatically, he continued. “After a while I didn’t even remember what that feeling was I was waiting for it to turn into. It was just reality. It was my life— my life with Winnie. It was easier to just go along with it because it was simple and I didn’t _not_ like it, you know? I probably sound like a terrible person right now…” 

Gilbert scrubbed his face with his hands and looked at Anne for a confirmation or dismissal of his previous statement, eyes reminiscent of the boy she met when she first moved to Avonlea. 

Taking his hand, Anne looked at him with fierce determination. “Gil. You are not a terrible person. You couldn’t possibly be. For as long as I’ve known you, you have been one of the best people I’ve ever known. No, you’re not perfect, but you’ve never been cruel or tried to hurt someone on purpose. Sure, you’ve made mistakes, but you’ve always tried to rectify them and most importantly, you’ve learned from them and grown as a person. So no, I don’t think you’re a terrible person.” 

After giving his hand a final squeeze, she let it go and continued, “You obviously didn’t propose to Winnie, so what happened?”

“While I was thinking about my life and the direction it was heading I realized that somewhere along the line the Gilbert I was in high school had disappeared almost completely. It happened so slowly that I hardly noticed. Take restaurants, for example. I’ve never been a fancy restaurant type of person. Win and her whole family eat out at classy restaurants that have dress codes and white table cloths and more silverware than I knew what to do with the first time I joined them. Sure, I needed to learn how to work in those environments for my job; doctors need good table manners at times, but that’s not who I am. Deep down I like going to the small, family owned restaurants like the one you and I practically lived in in high school. The ones who have mismatched everything and where I’ve eaten everything on the menu multiple times and can escape with a bill for less than 15 dollars.”

Anne chuckled, saying “Remember that time Moody dared you to order every kind of milkshake they made at Gloria’s and you actually finished them all and then threw up all over the parking lot?”

Gilbert laughed, thankful for Anne’s ability to always know how to break the tension in a situation with grace. “Umm, yes. Yes I do. But I also won the bet, and beating Moody is always worth it.” Gilbert said smugly before sobering a little and continuing. 

“So the more I thought about it, the more realized that there were lots of little things that had changed over the years that I never really agreed to. For example, I played sports in high school. I used to wear jeans and a hoodie to class nearly every day. They’re comfortable and I like the way they look. Winnie felt that I needed to look more professional as a future doctor, and by the time I got to Thanksgiving last fall I was running around like one of the Warblers from Glee. It was a slow progression, but slacks, sweaters and bowties are not really my style.” 

Gilbert huffed and rolled his eyes at Anne as she smiled back, fondly remembering the hours they would spend in her room watching Glee, him having to suffer through her openly swooning over Grant Gustin.

“But these changes made me fit into Winnie’s world. I was more serious and was always concerned about how I was interacting with their fancy friends, never knowing what kind of networking opportunity I would miss if I didn’t say just the right thing to the umpteenth rich dude in Mr. Rose’s study. I wasn’t sleeping well and was always anxious about everything. After Thanksgiving it seemed like Winnie was making it worse rather than better. Like my blinders had been removed and I was seeing clearly for the first time in a while. 

“Once I realized everything wasn’t as perfect as we would lead people to believe I couldn’t keep pretending anymore. I didn’t want to act like everything was fine and go to her family’s again for Christmas, leading them all to believe that nothing had changed. So I ended it. During finals week. God, I’m such an asshole. I didn’t know what else to do…. She asked that we say it was mutual and I already felt horrible, so I agreed. Lying was apparently something I had gotten quite good at. What was one more to make her life easier?” Gilbert trailed off, looking quite determinedly at his hands in his lap.

Anne reached over and cupped his cheek, forcing him to look her in the eyes. “Gil, there was no good way to do that. You guys were together for 3 years — for the majority of college. It was going to be a certain level of ugly no matter what, especially with how involved her parents were in your lives.” She paused for a moment, lost in the intensity of the look he was returning, then swiped her thumb across his cheekbone before realizing the intimacy of that action. She dropped her hand and continued. 

“Remember that old classic we read in Ms. Stacey’s english class junior year? There was a quote in it that has stuck with me ever since. The book said ‘You can only know something when you know it. Not a moment before.’ Of course Billy thought it was stupid, and Josie thought the guy should’ve been able to figure it before then anyways, but I thought it was so profound. It doesn’t matter when you know something, only that you don’t live the same way after you figure it out. You learned an important lesson about yourself but you didn’t deny it the ability to change you. Even though it sucked, you didn’t sit on that new information pretending it didn’t exist, and that was so brave, Gil. I’m proud of you. I know that wasn’t any easy choice to make.”

“Thanks…” Gilbert whispered, pulling her hand to bring her back to lean on his side. “You know what the worst part was though?” 

“Hmmm” Anne asked, wrapping her arm around his chest and setting her head back on his shoulder. 

“The whole time I was trying to figure stuff out the only person I wanted to talk to about it was you. In high school it seemed like you were just a part of my conscience. I didn’t make a single big decision without bouncing it off of you first. We used to sit just like this all the time and talk all night about everything. We problem solved bad teachers, asshole classmates, how to get our parents to go along with our harebrained schemes, what we’d be when we grew up and how to get into our dream college. You were there every step of the way. I guess I’d been so busy with Winifred that I didn’t realize you hadn’t been there for me in that way in a long time. Then when I needed you, I was on my own.”

Gilbert had gotten very quiet towards the last bit of his confession, the ending nearly a whisper. The silence that followed it was especially stark. Gil was running the ugly truth of that over and over in his mind when he realized that Anne was too quiet. It was then that he realized his shirt was feeling a little damp and she wasn’t really breathing anymore, every muscle in her back completely tense. 

Rubbing her back a little bit, Gilbert leaned down closer to her face and asked “Hey, what’s wrong?”

He barely leaned back in time to avoid her head smashing into his nose as she whipped her head off his shoulder to sit up to face him. When she met his eyes he was astonished at the unadultured wrath he beheld. Her eyes were glassy, still wet from the tears that had leaked onto his shirt. The anger radiating out of them worse than he had ever seen from her before. There was a fierceness to her expression that took his breath away. Apparently in the time they’d spent together this semester she’d been holding some things back. 

Jabbing her finger into his chest she let loose. “ _You_ were on your own?! Are you kidding me, Gilbert?! What the hell do you call the last THREE YEARS?!” 

All the pent up frustration and hurt had been bottled up for far too long. Finally, the object of her pain was available to be the recipient of her anger. She couldn’t help but revel in the terror she saw reflected on his face. 

“Are you seriously trying to tell me that _I left you_?! That I wasn’t there for you when _you_ needed _me_?!”

“Yes! We used to do everything together and I couldn’t talk to you! You weren’t there!”

“God forbid you get a taste of your own medicine! Ironic, truly, considering your chosen profession. Didn’t like it very much now, did you?” 

“Anne, what are you talking about?” 

“I cannot believe you have the audacity to sit here and try to make me feel bad for you; that you were all by yourself when you needed me. How the hell do you think I felt when you decided that I wasn’t good enough for you anymore as soon as we got here and you replaced me for a prettier, richer, version the second she showed you any attention?”

“I didn’t _replace_ you with Winnie.”

“Is that really the argument you want to go with here? Cause if you want to do this, we can do this. I’ve had three years to stew. I’m ready. I don’t think you’re ready for this, but here we go. You replaced me, Gilbert. Don’t even try to deny it. But you’re right, we did do everything together. Then after one unfortunate, stupid frat party you treated me like I didn’t mean anything to you anymore. 

“Anne, you’ve always meant so much to me.” Gilbert kept trying to deescalate the situation, getting increasingly frustrated by her words, not grasping the depth of the hurt he’d caused her. “I don’t know how you can even say that. It’s obviously not true.”

“ _Obviously_ , Anne snarked. “Oh that’s rich. If I meant so much to you, you certainly have a fucked up way of showing it. Yeah, you care about me, you didn’t replace me, but suddenly Winnie was the one doing all the things with you that we used to do together. You had her and I had no one. I didn’t leave you, Gilbert, YOU LEFT ME.” Anne’s voice cracked, and both were a little stunned by the volume and emotion her words carried. 

Her confession echoed around the apartment and all the fight within her was gone with them. Gilbert’s demeanor changed completely, the gravity of her words hitting him like a wall. Suddenly, he was able to view things from her side, his blinders being removed once again. 

Anne continued, her voice progressively degrading as the emotion leaked into her vocal cords. “I thought it was just going to be a phase, but you never came back. Our friendship basically died in that house, and I’ve spent the last three years missing you every single day. You broke my heart, Gilbert. I thought you were the one person I could trust outside of Matthew and Marilla to never leave me, and all it took was one pretty blonde to make me realize it was all a lie. You were my person, and then, just like that, you were gone. It felt like you died.” 

At this point she was desperately trying to fight off sobs as she sat in front of the man who had caused her pain. Unloading every last bit of emotional baggage she’d been carrying since she was 18, she looked him right in the eyes and laid bare her heart. 

“And you know what’s the most twisted part? Even after you ripped my heart out and made me question everything I'd ever learned about trust and love I still wanted you around. So I still wear this damn hoodie all the time because it reminds me of you and if I wash it with the right detergent it still smells like you. It’s like this tragic souvenir from when my life actually made sense, and I can’t seem to put it behind me. I wear it whenever I wish you there with me, which is basically all the time. Apparently that also makes me pathetic because I got asked out on a date today and the poor idiot thought my last name was Blythe. I thought I could be your friend again, Gil. But it’s just too hard…it hurts too much.” Breaking down, she whispered, “I don’t know how to get past this.”

Tears were streaming down her face as Gilbert looked at her, paralyzed. She met his eyes just long enough to feel the intensity he always carried in them, but it was too much. She felt too exposed. Getting up she rushed into his room and shut the door to get away. Even after all these years she still ran away when things got too real for her, so she curled up on Gilbert’s bed, back to the door, and clutched one of his pillows like she’d physically fall apart if she didn’t.


	7. After the Storm

Gilbert could hear her crying from the living room but stayed frozen in place next to the couch. 

_What the hell just happened?_

In the eight years he’d known Anne he had never seen her that upset or angry. He thought he knew her better than anyone, that he knew exactly what to expect with her, but he was wrong. But what was even more unexpected was the effect her outburst had on him. He felt awful. Truly, deeply, awful. Rubbing his face he tried to sort through his emotions. Tonight was supposed to be fun. It was supposed to be the beginning of getting things back to normal. How could it have taken such a turn? And why did he feel even worse than when he broke up with Winnie? 

After about 10 minutes Gilbert stood up and quietly approached his closed bedroom door. He could see light spilling out from under it and still heard sniffles and little hiccups for air which made his heart sink. He leaned his forehead against the door and just stood there, wallowing in guilt. 

How could he have hurt Anne this badly and not even known? She was the one person he never wanted to hurt. He’d been there for every part of her slowly letting down her guard after being adopted in middle school. She’d been on her own for so long she took a long time to let people in. He had tried so hard to earn her trust. When she finally became his friend and he was let into her inner circle he knew he never wanted to leave it. She was his favorite person. 

How could he have ever made the mistake of letting her slip out of his life? He had been so distracted by his relationship with Winnifred that he completely missed the fact that he wasn’t the only person his actions affected in a major way. Realizing he had a lot of damage control to do if he wanted to keep Anne in his life, he quietly knocked on the door.

“Anne?” He heard the rustle of some blankets, but no answer.

“Anne, I want to talk about what just happened, but I’m not going to come in unless you say it’s okay. Can I come in?”

“I guess…”

Gilbert opened the door and was met with the sight of Anne curled up into a ball on his bed, his name displayed on her back staring back at him. A wave of fondness immediately washed over him, taking the edge off his gnawing guilt. She looked so small and cute, curled up in his hoodie. The fact that she had just admitted it was basically a walking security blanket only made him more determined to fix this. She deserved to have only good memories associated with him from now on. He would figure out a way to make this right. To make them right. 

“I know you’re probably still mad at me, and I obviously missed the fact that you’ve been carrying around a lot of hurt because of what I did. It’s not fair to put you through anything more tonight. So I’m just going to talk for a little bit, and you can listen.” Gilbert approached the bed and sat on its edge. 

“I’m an idiot. Bash and Moody are constantly telling me so, but I didn’t think they were actually serious. Unfortunately, they were completely right. Anne, from the bottom of my heart, I am so sorry. I never meant to hurt you in any of this, and it kills me to know that I did. Even worse, I hate that I had no idea I was doing it. At any point since I met you if someone asked me who my favorite person in the world was, I would say you. I don’t know how I can reconcile that with the fact that we didn’t spend hardly any time together in college because I was distracted by Winnie, but it’s the truth.”

“I am so sorry that you feel like I abandoned you. You’re not even wrong. I totally did. And I hate that I could be the kind of person who did that to you after you trusted me with so much of your story from before you arrived in Avonlea. I abandoned my best friend and didn’t blink twice. If you never want to talk to me again after tonight I get it. I’m the one who broke this, not you. But I really hope you don’t choose that option. I don’t want this to be the end of our story.”

Gilbert laid down on his back next to Anne and began speaking to the ceiling instead of directing his words right to her.

“How am I doing? I’ll grovel and beg and apologize for as long as I have to, but I need to know there’s a chance that it’ll actually make a difference. Should I keep going?”

Anne huffed, still facing the wall. “Starting off with ‘I’m an idiot’ was a good plan. I’ve been thinking a similar thing for many years. Glad we’re finally on the same page. You may continue…” 

“Alright. Earlier I mentioned that I needed you and you weren’t there. And you were totally justified in ripping me a new one. That was a shitty way to put it and I didn’t consider your feelings at all. However, I’d like to explain what I meant. When I broke up with Winnie I thought that everything would go back to how it was before. That she was the piece that was out of place. But we broke up and yes, things were different, but they weren’t back to how I expected. I was just super alone. It wasn’t until we split that I realized just how isolated I’d become from every piece of my old life.” 

Gilbert shifted on the bed and tucked his inside arm up under his head, physically displaying his discomfort in admitting the truth. 

“That was a scary realization. And you know who I wanted to talk to about it to figure out how to fix it? You. Then I realized that I honestly couldn’t remember the last time we talked for more than a couple minutes, and it was always about something completely superficial. It was like getting sucker punched. I hated it. I’m only just now realizing that this is probably how you’ve felt the whole time…”

Anne flipped over to face Gilbert. Her eyes were still misty, but instead of looking angry, they just looked sad. She whispered, “Do you have any idea how hard it is to miss someone when they’re right in front of you? To mourn the loss of their presence in your life the same as if they’d genuinely died, yet see them out there living life, just without you? It’s like being haunted.”

Gilbert turned his face towards her and took one of her hands in his. There was no point in holding back anymore. His eyes searched hers. He looked at her like a man who was unsure if he was looking at someone for the very last time, terrified that if he blinked it would all disappear when he was so desperate to keep it. 

“God, Anne. How did we get here? How do we fix it? This is not the kind of world I want to live in. We aren’t supposed to feel this way. It’s not supposed to be like this. You’re supposed to be the one person who is always there. I’m supposed to be the person who never hurts you. How do we get back to how we felt in high school where the rest of the world didn’t matter as long as we had each other?”

“I don’t know, Gil. I always thought that feeling would last forever. That no matter what happened, it would be fine because I had you in my life. Because we tackled things as a team. Us against the world, you know?”

Gilbert shifted to his side to face Anne, pulling their entwined hands to his chest. He took a deep breath and locked his eyes with hers. 

“I want to have that again more than anything. I have missed you so much, Anniecat. I know I got a lot wrong along the way, but the one thing that I know for sure I got right was you. I just forgot for a while. I’ve been thinking this semester about what’s missing from my life and what kind of person I want to be. It all came back to just one thing. You.”

Gil dropped her hand and reached up to cup her cheek. Anne looked at him warily, yet she didn’t move. 

“Everything in my life makes sense when you’re in it. I like who I am when I’m with you. You make me better and I can’t fathom any version of my life without you. You’re my person, too...still… I spent weeks trying to figure out what it was that made that ‘us against the world feeling’ with you so...I don’t even know what word to use. Was it our shared history? A sense of security? Our friendship? The fact that I could talk to you about anything? The way you know exactly what I’m thinking and what I need, sometimes even before I do? The way you make me feel confident enough to try things, even when they scare me? I rifled through these possibilities for a long time before Moody finally dropped a truth bomb on me after he got sick of my questions. He just said ‘You love her, you idiot.’”

Smiling, Gilbert stroked her cheek with his thumb and touched his forehead to hers. He let down his guard, his eyes ablaze with adoration and desire. 

“ _I love you, Anne._ I think I’ve been in love with you for a really long time, I just didn’t realize that’s what I was feeling until I learned the hard way what love wasn’t.”

Anne closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath. A single tear slipped from her eye and rolled over the bridge of her nose on its way to the pillow below her cheek. 

“Anne…?” Gilbert’s voice was flooded with caution, terrified by the gravity of his confession. There was no going back now. Everything would be different now, for better or worse.

She opened her eyes and Gilbert was thunderstruck by the way the blue sparkled back at him. Anne looked at him with all the love she’d been burying below the surface for so long. Her face broke into a wide smile that made the corners of her eyes crinkle. She reached her hand out and placed it on Gilbert’s chest before gripping the strings of his hoodie. Using them for leverage, she pulled him even closer than before and closed the distance between them, softly pressing her lips to his. It was a chaste kiss, yet unhurried. 

When Anne pulled back she couldn’t help but grin at the dazed look on Gilbert’s face as his eyes slowly focused back on her. Then his eyebrows furrowed, his mind racing. _What kind of kiss was that? An ‘I love you too’ kiss? An ‘I’m flattered but I just wanna be friends’ kiss?_

Gilbert’s thoughts began to spiral. Anne couldn’t help but chuckle as she stroked his eyebrow with her thumb to smooth it back. His eyebrows shot up in confusion instead. 

“I can see those gears turning...before you get too distraught about what that kiss could’ve possibly meant, you can stop.” She brushed her nose against his in a soft eskimo kiss. “I love you too, Gil.” 

It only took her five words to remove any doubt in Gilbert’s mind about her feelings towards him. His face lit up, eyes flashing with elation before simmering down into something darker. Gilbert pushed up on an elbow and leaned over Anne’s body, gently caressing her shoulder to lay her flat on the bed as he hovered. 

Anne looked up at Gilbert and momentarily forgot how to breathe. He was looking at her with an intensity that bordered on predatory. The anticipation made the air electric. All their history, their pain, and the umpteen misunderstandings between them was only adding to the intensity of this moment. He slid one leg across hers and rested it in the space between them, slowly lowering his body weight half on her, half on the bed. His hand ghosted over her cheek before anchoring it in the hair behind her ear. 

Gilbert leaned down achingly slow and kissed her forehead before gently running his nose down the length of Anne’s, pausing to look her in the eyes. She wrapped an arm around his back, grasping a handful of his hoodie with one hand and cupping his jaw with the other. The honesty within his look was undeniable. His eyes alone told her what she needed to know— that Gilbert loved her with every fiber of his being. He didn’t do anything halfway. It was one of her favorite things about him. 

When Gilbert finally kissed Anne, it was fueled with all his love and heavily shaded with regret. Using the arm supporting his weight he reached up to tangle his fingers in Anne’s hair and to tilt her head just how he wanted it. This freed his other hand to roam, learning all her curves in a new way.

He kissed her like if he captured her lips _just right_ between his own he could somehow erase all the damage he’d caused; like with each push and pull he could take away all the pain she’d carried for years because of him. He kissed Anne like each kiss to her lips and every caress of her body could bring them closer to the people they once were. 

It’s not that Anne hadn’t been kissed before. She had kissed her fair share of boys in college, but it had never meant anything. This was something entirely different. Gilbert was kissing her like it was what he was always meant to do. She thought she’d known the extent of his intensity, but being the sole focus of his love and affection was nearly enough to undo her completely. 

He lavished his kisses all over her lips, cheeks, jaw and neck. He took his time and made each one count, not missing a single opportunity to gain a positive reaction out of her. She was on fire, burning from the inside out, and all she could do was hang onto him for dear life. His unadulterated passion was too much. It made her feel as though the balance between them was already shifting in his favor. 

This simply would not do. It was a well established fact that she gave as good as she got. In fact, their rivalry thrived on it. 

Anne reached under Gilbert’s support arm and wrapped her fist in the fabric of his hood. She flicked her tongue out and ran it along the seam of his bottom lip, eliciting a groan out of Gilbert. Using this as a distraction, she simultaneously pulled on his hood, pushed his chest with her opposite hand and twisted her free leg up and over his hips, effectively throwing off his balance and causing him to tumble on his back. 

Using his momentary loss of control, she straddled his lap to pin him down, giving herself the upper hand. Gilbert looked up at her in surprise, stunned by the rapid turn of events. This time, it was Anne who wore the predatory gleam in her gaze. Her smile had a wicked edge to it, her pride in taking advantage of the situation undeniable. He reached for her hips and she pushed his hands down to grip her legs instead. 

Never breaking eye contact, she pulled her lucky hoodie over her head, the double meaning in its name not lost on her. As she pulled it off her body, she revealed the plain white camisole she wore underneath it. She took the scrunchie from her braid and shook loose her hair, allowing it to cascade over her shoulders and down over her mostly bare chest, the overhead fixture providing the perfect backlight to make the tips glow like fire. 

Gilbert looked up at her in complete awe. “Shit, Anne. How are you even real? Get down here.” He reached up and grabbed her hips, wrapping his arms around her torso. She let him pull her and bent so she was flush with his chest, her legs still tight to the sides of his hips. 

Taking a play from his book, she trailed slow, open mouthed kisses from his mouth up to his jaw, paying special attention to the corner where his muscles so often clenched when he was upset or overwhelmed, noting the fact that she quite liked the stubble she found there. After she was pleased with the quality of her work on his jaw she began working her way down his neck, alternating with kisses, licks, and nips. She was particularly pleased to learn that she could elicit truly embarrassing noises from him if she sucked the hollow of his throat just right. All this was done in tandem with her hands exploring his body, squeezing his arms and gripping his chest alternately. 

Unable to kiss her back during her onslaught, his hands were solely responsible for showing her his adoration. He ran his hands up and down her back, over her hips and under the hem of her shirt. His hands tangled in her hair and twisted the ends, enjoying the hums and groans she would make when he did something she liked. 

Suddenly, she sat back up and threw her hair back over her shoulders. “Off. This needs to go. Now,” she demanded, pulling him towards her and reaching towards the hem of his hoodie. He did not need to be told twice and like a flash his hoodie and shirt was discarded together on the floor. 

Her eyes roved over his bare skin. “What are _those_?!” she exclaimed, shocked by the extremely fit man beneath her. “Gil, when did this happen?!” Anne’s eyes were big as saucers. This was not what she was expecting at all. College Gil was full of surprises. Running her hands across his torso, she drank in his chiseled pecs and abs while trying to wrap her mind around the fact that he had chest hair now...like a lot of it. And she liked it. 

“Like what you see, Anniecat?” he asked cheekily, chuckling at her failed attempt to look annoyed. He ran his hand up her waist and she remembered what she was doing. She dove down and began kissing his throat, paying special attention to where his neck met his shoulders. His collarbones were especially enticing, and she couldn’t help but lick across them, making Gilbert gasp. 

“Okay, that’s it!” He grabbed her around the waist and sat up, putting her right on her back where his feet had been. He pinned her hands above her head and began kissing down her throat while his hands pushed her shirt up to under bra, making the skin of her torso available to his greedy hands. He licked her collarbone in revenge, making her let out a moan that would mortify her if she wasn’t so focused on the feeling of his mouth on her skin. 

He released her hands and she buried them in his hair, tugging his face back up to hers, needing his mouth back on hers. Their kisses eventually grew less frantic and more reverent, the fire between them burning down to a delicious simmer. They were content to just enjoy each other, basking in the new feelings of requited love between them. 

Gilbert kissed Anne one last time before leaning his forehead against hers. “I can’t believe I almost missed out on this. I love you so much.” He leaned down and kissed her again before laying down on the bed next to her, pulling her into his arms. 

Looking up at him, she caressed his cheek before reaching over and pinching his ear lobe with her fingernails.

“Ow! What the hell, Anne?”

Kissing his chest, she apologized. “I’m sorry. I was just making sure this was real. You know I have a very active imagination and I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit imagining this very activity.”

“Oh yeah?” he asked, a smug grin on his face. Then he sobered a little, “Anne, how long have you had feelings for me?”

Propping herself up on her elbow, she looked down at him with misty eyes, the eyes sadder than she’d like to admit. “Since around Christmas of freshman year...It didn’t take long after you started dating Winnie for me to realize that I didn’t just miss hanging out with you. I was jealous of her. Like, really, really jealous. I didn’t just want to spend time with you, I wanted to _be with you_.”

Gilbert took her hand and kissed her palm, trying to apologize just with his lips. 

Anne continued, needing to get this off her chest. “The irony of us watching Made of Honor tonight was not lost on me. I haven’t been able to watch that movie since high school. It hurt too much. It was too real. I always loved that movie because those two seemed just like us. Their relationship was so easy. I figured we’d just eventually figure it out and I wasn’t in any hurry to change things. I liked how they already were too much. Then you got a girlfriend and there I was, identifying with Patrick Dempsey to a terrifying degree and imagining all the ridiculous things I would have to do to steal you away from Winnie; to prove I was the right choice for you.”

Gilbert chuckled at the mental image Anne had provided him. 

“Shh you. My turn to talk. You had yours.” She swatted his chest, half-heartedly scolding him before laying a quick kiss to his lips. “So how long have I had feelings for you? Well, I’ve _known_ I had feelings for you for like three years, but if I’m being honest it was probably a long time before that. I just didn’t realize it. I’ve always wanted you to be happy, Gil. It just sucked when I realized that it was going to mean loving you enough to let you go. To let you go be happy with her, not me.” 

Anne began to cry, a few tears escaping her eyes. Her narrowly avoided tragical romance was just a little too fresh. “I’m just glad I get the Made of Honor ending rather than the My Best Friend's Wedding one. I don’t know if I could be Julia Roberts with you, Gil. It’d be too hard. I love you too much.”

Gilbert kissed her, pouring his heart out in the process. “Anne, I promise you, you never have to say goodbye to me ever again. I almost lost you forever and I have no intention of making that mistake again. I love you. Now that I know what not having you in my life is like, I don’t want to ever feel that again. Ever.”

Anne brought a hand to her chest in fake surprise. “Gilbert Blythe. Are you proposing?” she teased.

“....Not yet…?” he countered, looking at her hopefully. “Anne, I’m in. I’m all in. I don’t need to spend any more time trying to figure out what I want. I don’t need to date anyone else or take more time to consider my options. I just want to be yours. Forever. I hope that’s not too much, too fast.”

Anne smiled and stroked his cheek. “No, Gil. Not too fast. I think we’ve been secretly married in our minds for at least most of high school. Let’s just call college the lost years and agree to never speak of them again. I think I could get used to how we used to be, but also getting to kiss your face whenever I want. Forever sounds kinda perfect.” 

Gilbert wrapped her in his arms and snuggled her in an aggressive bear hug. Kissing her forehead, he looked down at her, his eyes beaming. “Good.” 

Anne cocked her head, putting her hand over Gilbert’s mouth. “You hear that?”

“Birds. What time is it…?” he asked, looking over his shoulder at the clock on his night stand which read 5:00. “So. I think we can officially say we pulled an all nighter. You must be exhausted. Two nights with hardly any sleep? Why don’t we nap for a couple hours and then we can make breakfast.”

Anne yawned, her exhaustion finally catching up with her now that the excitement of their evening was wearing off. “That sounds great, Gil.”

“Do you want your hoodie? I don’t want you to be cold.”

“Nah, I have the real thing to keep me warm tonight.” she slurred, sleep already taking over her as she nuzzled into his chest. “Night, Gil.”

Gilbert kissed her forehead before reaching and pulling a blanket over the two of them. “Goodnight, Anniecat. Sweet dreams.”

***

A few hours later, the sun was streaming through the window, placing Anne and Gilbert in a pool of its golden light. Gilbert woke first, momentarily startled by the weight he felt on his chest. He looked down and was met with a faceful of gleaming red hair, tossed every which way. _Anne._ All the memories from the last night game flooding back to him, leaving him feeling happier than he believed he could ever be. 

Kissing her head, he whispered into her ear, “Good morning, love.” 

Anne stirred awake, looking around confused for a moment before realizing who was speaking. She closed her eyes again, a smile stretching across her face. “Hi, Gil. This is still real, right?”

“So real. Do you wanna make it more real and wake up to start the day? I was thinking I could make us some pancakes.”

“Mmmm. Pancakes sound great,” she whispered, kissing him just because she could. 

The two got out of bed, and began puttering around the apartment. Gilbert headed to the kitchen to begin gathering the ingredients to make the pancake batter while Anne began cleaning up the aftermath of their movie night. She put the pillows back on Gilbert’s bed and folded all the blankets before bringing the dirty dishes back into the kitchen. 

Anne washed the dishes and then perched up on the counter to watch Gilbert make the pancakes, enjoy the way the muscles moved as he worked shirtless. 

“Hey Gil, you know if you want them to be fluffy you’re not supposed to squish them with the spatula, right? You’re just supposed to poke the middle with the corner to see if the inside is done.”

Gilbert whirled around on her, waving his spatula. “Oh, I see we have a know-it-all on our hands. Guess I’ll have to find a way to shut her up….” Gilbert abandoned his spatula and wrapped his arms around Anne, pulling her into his arms. Her arms and legs instinctively wrapping around his tall frame. He leaned down to kiss her and she melted in his arms, utterly content to stay like this for ages. 

Gilbert broke the kiss, looking at Anne meaningfully. He grabbed the edge of her hoodie and pulled it towards him. “Do you have any idea what you wearing this does to me? Yesterday I had to literally talk myself out of telling you I loved you right when you walked in the door when I saw you wearing my name on your back.”

Anne kissed him again, basking in the joy she felt that he way truly hers. “Well, I guess that’s good you like it, cause it’s my favorite clothing item. Sounds like we both win when I wear it,” she teased, flashing him a wicked smile. 

Gilbert groaned, squeezing her even tighter. “You’re killing me, smalls. I love youuuuuu.” Gilbert ducked down and pressed a kiss to her neck while Anne laughed, her eyes closed. 

“I love you too. Now make me my pancakes, pancake boy!” 

“Pancake boy? Seriously, Anne? You’re such a dork.”

Gilbert started working on the pancakes again while Anne watched him. A minute later they heard their phones start blowing up in the other room.

“What the heck?”

Anne and Gilbert walked into the living room to investigate only to stop short in the doorway at the sight of Moody looking like the cheshire cat, lounging on the couch with his hands resting behind his head. 

“Oh hey, guys,” he greeted cheerily, a devilish grin on his face. 

“Hey Moody….How long have you been home?” Gilbert asked, panic starting to edge into his voice. 

“Oh, long enough.”

“Um, Gilbert...you should see this.” Anne was holding her phone, eyes wide, looking between it, Gilbert and Moody.

Gilbert grabbed her phone and saw their high school group chat was open. The first thing he saw was a photo of him and Anne in the kitchen not moments ago, in a fairly compromising position. Then he saw the accompanying message:

 **Moody:** GILBERT AND ANNE ARE MAKING OUT IN MY KITCHEN

 **Diana:** FINALLY!!! <3 <3

 **Cole:** My favorite idiots finally figured it out! Get it girl! 

**Jerry:** Good! Now I don’t have to kick Gilbert’s ass!

 **Ruby:** Yes!! Best news ever! Double date soon?!

 **Josie:** Finally. Took them long enough *eye roll*

 **Tillie:** Bets on when the wedding will be?

 **Jane:** Damn, girl! Way to lock that down 

“Moody, I’m going to give you a ten second head start to run before I kick your ass. Anne, you might want to divert your eyes. Moody needs to pay for ruining our perfect morning by TELLING EVERYONE OUR BUSINESS”

“Noted.” Moody gulped, realizing he might’ve taken his joke a little too far. “Bye Gilbert! Bye Anniecat!”

“Moody!” Anne lunged at Moody as he flashed past her towards the door, only escaping because Gilbert had physically held her back, wrapping his arms around her waist. 

“Easy, tiger. It’s okay. He’s gone.” Gilbert kissed her hair and turned her around in his arms to face him. “I just wanted to get him out of here so we could be alone,” Gilbert admitted slyly. 

“Well, I guess your evil plan worked perfectly. So, pancakes?”

“Follow me”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Drop a comment if you want :) 
> 
> You can find me on twitter @happy_go_fluffy


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